National Bank Says Georgia’s Debt Down, FDIs Up

The gross external debt of Georgia amounted to USD 14.6 billion (33.5 billion GEL) as of March 31, which was 107.1 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from the last four quarters, claims the National Bank of Georgia’s (NBG) latest data.

During the first quarter of 2016, the gross external debt of Georgia decreased by USD 429.9 million (988.7 million GEL). NBG explained this change as mainly due to transferring direct investor’s debt into equity capital.

State foreign debt amounted to USD 6.2 billion (14.7 billion GEL), which is 45.4 percent of GDP. Of this, government debt is USD 4.5 billion (10.7 billion GEL), 33.1 percent of GDP; the National Bank's debt amounted to USD 219.4 million (519.6 million), 1.6 percent of GDP, while state-owned enterprises bonds and loans are USD 801.0 million (1.9 billion GEL) or 5.9 percent of GDP and USD 655.6 million (1.6 billion GEL) or 4.8 percent of GDP, respectively.

The NBG reported that Georgia enjoyed a record number of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) – USD 376 million (865 million GEL) in Q1 of 2016. This was a 103 percent increase year-on-year and a record since 2008. Following this increase, the country’s investment position on the global scale has improved.

As of March 31, the country’s net International Investment Position amounted to USD 18.7 billion (43 billion GEL). This was 136.8 percent of the country’s GDP of the last four quarters, meaning the country is attracting more FDIs, said NBG.

Eka Karsaulidze